For the Love of the Game
by soco2seoul
Summary: [AU] Takes place at a high school where instead of a passion for being shinobis, the Naruto characters have a passion for the game of football. Might be some sasusaku, naruhina, and other such pairing later on in the story. Maybe.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own no aspect of Naruto what-so-ever. If I violate any copyright law at all, please alert me and I'll change/remove my story accordingly.

* * *

**[Orientation**

_munch munch_

"…"

_munch munch_

Iruka Umino groaned and dropped his face into his hands. Before him were about twenty students. Judging by their height, they were all freshmen. Rubbing his temples, he took the time to examine each one closely. He noticed that each of the boys had a peculiar trait to them. One boy was absent-mindedly munching on a bag of chips, another was trembling with excitement, and another still was falling asleep.

'This is so not good…' Iruka thought to himself morbidly, 'if this is the team, we're not going to win a single game and I'll be fired for sure…'

All hopes of a successful season were vaporized in the time-span of thirty seconds. After he allowed himself a second groan, Iruka faced the teens and began his first words as head coach of Konoha High School's junior varsity football team.

"So… I suppose you're all here to join the football team?"

There was a general nod of confirmation from the group of students. Suddenly, a loophole presented itself to Iruka.

"Well too bad. The league rules state that there has to be at least twenty-two people on the active roster to be allowed to play in the league. From what I just counted, there are only twenty of you. Too bad, we'll try again next year."

Nineteen jaws dropped to the ground.

A blonde boy shouted indignantly. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN!?! ARE YOU SAYING THAT WE CAN'T PLAY?!!"

Iruka nodded while smiling. "Yup, unless you can find two more people quickly, Konoha High School wont have a JV football team this year."

The blonde boy yelled again. "BAH!! THAT'S RIDICULOUS!!"

Iruka simply let out a relieved sigh. 'Phew, my job is safe, hopefully we can get some actual athletic kids to sign up next year.'

Unfortunately, Iruka's job was once again in jeopardy when a black haired boy with onyx eyes spoke up.

"Hey dobe, instead of yelling at the coach why don't you go find some more people?"

"HEY! I'M NOT A…. wait… that's a good idea!"

With that, the blonde ran out of the gym. Half the room sweat-dropped.

The black haired boy spoke again. "Don't mind Naruto, he's an idiot."

Iruka considered those words for an undetermined amount of time until Naruto bounded back into the room, dragging four confused looking girls with him. Iruka mentally noted that one of them had pink hair while another had very pale pupils.

"I got more people!" He shouted in glee.

"Told you he was an idiot."

One of the girls looked at Naruto. "Why are we here?"

Naruto smiled. "Well, we needed more people to join the football team."

Comprehension dawned on the four girls. "ARE YOU F'ING STUPID NARUTO??! WE'RE GIRLS YOU MORON!!"

"Please!" Naruto begged.

The pink-haired girl shouted at him. "ABSOLUTELY N-"

"I-I'll do it." Stuttered the pale eye'd girl.

She found herself met with bewildered looks.

One of the girls, who had her hair in two buns, spoke up. "Well if Hinata's joining, I'll join too."

A blonde girl looked dumbfounded. "You two are crazy!"

"Sasuke's on the team."

"Actually, I think I'll join too."

The three girls looked expectantly at the fourth. The pink-haired girl gave a defeated sigh.

"Fine… I'll join too…"

All the high schoolers in the gym recovered from their shock and looked at Iruka whose eye was twitching uncontrollably.

'My team not only has the laziest, fattest, and stupidest kids I've ever seen, now it has girls?!'

Tears formed in his eyes as he passed around a clipboard with a sheet of paper and a pen. "Okay. Fine. Everyone sign your onto this sheet of paper. Write down your phone number and your grade next to your name. As you're all doing that, I'll introduce myself and the other members of our staff."

As the first student was writing down his information, the rest patiently looked at him.

"First off, my name is Iruka Umino and I'm the head coach. I'll have a hand on every aspect of the team so I'll most likely be getting to know all of you. Now, allow me to introduce our Offensive coordinator, Kurenai Yuhi."

A woman with red eyes stepped forward from the group of coaches. Iruka noticed that a few of the teenagers had doubtful looks in their eyes.

"Rest assured, Coach Yuhi is very qualified. She was a receiver for the Konoha University Fire Bandits. Now, she's in charge of our offense. She designs and calls most of our offensive plays and also decides who gets to play in our offense."

With that being said, Kurenai stepped back and a square jawed man with a goatee stepped forward.

"This is our defensive coordinator, Asuma Sarutobi. He'll be in charge of our defensive schemes and will also be doing part of our conditioning. All you defensive players should regard him highly because he'll be deciding whether or not you'll play."

Asuma gave a hearty grin and walked back to the group of coaches. Next, a silver haired man came out wearing a mask that covered most of his face, leaving his right eye visible. Several people realized who it was and gasped.

"This is Kakashi Hatake, former star of the Konoha Green Dragons. I see some of you have heard about him. He'll be our runningback coach this year."

Kakashi simply went back and joined the other coaches as a man with bags under his eyes made his way to the front. Some of the high schoolers cringed when he started coughing.

"Here is our defensive backs coach, Hayate Gekko. He graduated from Konoha High School several years ago and decided to be a part of our staff while he's attending Konoha University."

Hayate decided to have another coughing fit as he went back and was replaced by a man wearing green spandex.

"WHOOOO! GUY SENSEI-"

"Shut up! Anyways, this is Might guy. He was a back up runningback for the Konoha Green Dragons. Now, he's our offensive linemen coach. He'll also be a part of our conditioning program."

Might Guy smiled and gave the teenagers a thumbs up before going back. A rather large man wearing a bandanna stepped out.

"This is Ibiki Morino. He was a defensive tackle for the Konoha Academy of Science Krushers. He's the new coach for our defensive linemen."

Ibiki gave a nod before going back. A woman stomped over to the spot he was standing.

"This is our linebacker coach, Anko Mitarashi. She played safety for the Konoha Junior College Cutthroats."

Anko treated the students to a rather evil smile. She walked back to the other coaches and a man wearing glasses came out.

"This is Kabuto Yakushi. He just graduated Konoha High School last year. He will be our wide receivers coach this year."

Kabuto flashed a good natured smile and walked back, a man with gray hair taking his place.

"And finally, this is Jiraiya. Some of you may know him for his literature but rest assured, he's had some football experience… I think…"

Jiraiya simply went back to his previous position among the coaches. Iruka raised his voice and began speaking some more.

"This is our coaching staff this season. Take a good look because you'll see us almost everyday for ten games! Congratulations for joining Konoha's JV football team. Our first practice is on Monday at noon on the school's football field. By the way, many of our coaches are also teachers at your school, so don't be surprised to see them in your classroom."

Iruka gave a confidant smile as the teenagers began filing out of the gym. Several of the coaches patted him on the back and followed the students out the doors. Thus, Iruka Umino ended the meeting smoothly and professionally.

* * *

_1 hours later..._

Iruka banged his head on the counter before sliding off his stool.

'I am SO gonna get fired.' He though, 'I'll be surprised if we can score a point, let alone win a game.'

As he groaned and got back on his seat, Kakashi slid onto the stool next to his.

Kakashi turned and faced him. "Nice speech back there."

Iruka answered with a groan so the silver-haired man continued. "I noticed you left off the part about you being the son of the great Kisho Umino."

"They didn't need to know." Iruka slurred as he took another sip of his drink.

Kakashi ordered a cognac and the two sat for a while, simply taking in the ambience of the bar they were in. After half an hour lazily floated by, Kakashi stood up.

"Well coach, I've got some paperwork to turn in for my teaching credential. I guess I'll be seeing you Monday."

Without waiting for an answer, he disappeared out the door. Iruka merely groaned for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

* * *

Author's note: Umm… well this is the first chapter of my first Naruto fic. To be honest, this idea isn't very original but after reading some Naruto fics concerning football, I kind of wanted to make my own. You see, I actually play football for my school so this fic will have a perspective of football you only get from actually playing. Don't worry though, I'll try not to over complicate everything. And this chapter was mainly to set up the basic plot of the story, that's why I didn't really get many of the main characters involved yet. Rest assured, the story hopefully gets much better in the chapter after next. Please read and review, any advice (plotwise/grammatical/etc) will be greatly appreciated. Btw, if anyone's wondering why I haven't updated my other story, it is because I've been ridiculously busy for the past few months. 


	2. Reflections

WARNING (sort of…) - This chapter is not necessary for this story. It's here as a kind of extended intro and is relatively boring. I wouldn't read it but I wanted to put it here to kind of explain how Iruka got the coaching job and to give some perspective on the story. You don't have to read it if you don't want to but it might be helpful for future reference.

Disclaimer: I own no aspect of Naruto what-so-ever. If I violate any copyright law at all, please alert me and I'll change/remove my story accordingly.

[Reflection

There he stood, right in the middle of the glory that is the Konoha High School football field. His feet were planted firmly on top of the large white K painted at the center of the field. A thin mist created an eerie and lonesome atmosphere as he observed the stadium.

Konoha High School has had a history of good football team fueled by talented players. Year after year, it had produced winning seasons and created a strong following of fans from within the large high school sports community in the village of Konoha. Soon the school's football program had become the village's pride and joy. No one could've foreseen the tragic events that were to unfold.

Twelve years ago… that was when 'it' happened. It was a year after they had won the championship in Suna, and team had stayed late during an especially long practice. No one truly knew how the events unfolded but rumors and legend abound about what happened that night. It was a year after they had won the championship in Suna. And the team had stayed late during a particularly long practice. It is believed that as the team was in the locker room changing, the head coach inexplicably went insane. After a shouting match with the assistant coach, he had gone outside and entered his vehicle. The players and the rest of the coaching staff thought nothing of it until gunshots rang throughout the locker room. Alarmed by the noises, some neighbors rushed to the school and found the head coach firing a handgun indiscriminately at his coaching staff and at his players.

The following morning, the Leaf County police force arrived on the scene and met a chilling sight. The coach had killed all but one of his coaches and had claimed the lives of two of his athletes before he taking his own life. Friends and families of the victims were grief stricken and the event became known as the Konoha county massacre.

The most widely accepted explanation for the senseless killings was that a Kyuubi possessed the coach's spirit. Regardless of the cause, the village of Konoha was scarred forever. The football program was removed from the school's curriculum and the villagers wanted nothing to do with the sport for several years as the mere mention of football brought back painful memories. However, eight years after the tragedy, the nightmare had faded and rumors began to spread that the school was going to reinstate its football team. The rumors eventually gained some truth when the Leaf County athletics committee announced that it had recently approved league entry of a new team. Finally, the school approached the Village Council and requested that it approve a new football team. The motion narrowly passed the voting process because of the mixed feelings towards football. While some were optimistic about the sport, others were still struggling with the events that had happened. Never the less, the hunger for a new team overpowered the fear of history repeating itself. Thus began the second era of Konoha's football program. The rebuilding process took three years to complete. The stadium had not been used in years and desperately needed refurbishment. Also, a completely new coaching staff needed to be assembled. Though once a prestigious position, a coaching job at Konoha High simply wasn't was appealing as it had once been. Many coaches shied away from the position because the unclear talent level of the school's prospects made the job risky. Others avoided the job because they believed it is cursed.

Eventually, the stadium had been completely rebuilt. The pale grass field was replaced by a vibrant new one composed of artificial turf. Also, the dirt track that had circled the field was replaced by a slightly wider one made of brick-red vulcanized rubber. Even the rusty old bleachers were replaced by new ones made of titanium. On top of the home bleachers was a small press box to be used to house commentators and to provide a place for teams to record film of the games. Eventually the school found former football players, some of whom had blown their retirement fund and desperately needed money, and others who had their careers cut short by injuries. These misfits were gathered and formed into a makeshift coaching staff. Of course, this was for the Varsity team. The JV football team was added as an afterthought. JV teams usually existed to accommodate freshmen, sophomore, and certain juniors who are not yet ready to play at the varsity level. The title of JV Football coach wasn't a very prestigious one but it paid a decent salary and was much more low profile than the Varsity position.

Which is exactly why Iruka did it. Iruka Umino signed a contract that bound him and his loyalty to Konoha High School. When asked as to why he took such a lowly position, he simply answered that he needed the money. However, those that knew him better knew he was doing it to prove something to himself. Him and his staff were expected to take young prospects and prepare them for the next level of football. He would have three months of summer to condition his team. The season would start right along the time that the school year does. Including the summer practices, the football program will run for six months. As he stands in the fog, awaiting his new team to arrive, Iruka vows to himself that, for those six months, he will devote himself to the young players and bring out the best in each and every one of them. He would turn them into football players.

Author's Note: Well, this chapter isn't so much a chapter as it was an intro/summary/history of the story. It's here just to give some insight as to how things got to the point where the story actually starts. The next chapter will be where my story officially begins. This chapter was kind of drawn out and dull. Trust me, the actually story is nothing like this. Expect updates every few weeks or so, I'm a busy person and like to write during my free time. Btw, I haven't given up on my Evangelion fanfic, it's just on a hiatus until I get a break from school and such.


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